NHS services from Barts in London to Liverpool say they are
affected. Some employees are reporting that NHS computers
have been hit with ransomware — malicious software that encrypts
all all the data on a computer then demands a ransom to
unlock it.

Multiple NHS organisations are telling people not to
come to A&E, and at least one is "postponing all
non-urgent activity." There are also reports on Twitter of
operations being cancelled due to the attack.

"It's actually a nightmare" an NHS employee told Business
Insider. "Everyone is phone calling all over the place and
resorting back to paper to make sure people don't miss out."
Barts Health in London is
redirecting ambulances to other hospitals. Great Ormond
Street children's hospital is also affected, a source says.

In addition to hospitals, there are also reports of GP practices
being affected. Initial reports focused on England, but
Sky News is now reporting that GP surgeries in Scotland have
been affected as well.

In a statement, Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed the attack
is international, and that there is no evidence patient data has
been accessed. She said,
per The Guardian:

"We are aware that a number of NHS organisations have reported
that they have suffered from a ransomware attack.

"This is not targeted at the NHS, it’s an international attack
and a number of countries and organisations have been affected.

"The National Cyber Security Centre is working closely with NHS
digital to ensure that they support the organisations concerned
and that they protect patient safety.

"And we are not aware of any evidence that patient data has been
compromised.

"Of course, it is important that we have set up the National
Cyber Security Centre and they are able to work with the NHS
organisations concerned and to ensure that they are supported and
patient safety is protected."

"Ooops, your files have been encrypted! Many of your
documents, photos, videos, databases and other files are no
longer accessible because they have been encrypted. Maybe you are
busy looking for a way to recover your files, but do not waste
your time. Nobody can recover your files without our decryption
service," the message reads.

Some security experts are reporting that the ransomware is
spreading so quickly because it has been updated with Windows
exploits created by NSA, the US spy agency. These were leaked
online — and subsequently made their way into the hands of
criminals.

Before the panic ensues, regular common ransomware was most likely updated with weapons grade exploits that came from the NSA causing today.

"Immediately on discovery of the problem, the trust acted to
protect its IT systems by shutting them down; it also meant that
the trust's telephone system is not able to accept incoming
calls.

"The trust is postponing all non-urgent activity for today and is
asking people not to come to A&E - please ring NHS111 for
urgent medical advice or 999 if it is a life-threatening
emergency.

"To ensure that all back-up processes and procedures were put in
place quickly, the trust declared a major internal incident to
make sure that patients already in the trust’s hospitals
continued to receive the care they need."

NHS England did not immediately respond to Business Insider's
request for comment.

The exact scale of the attack isn't immediately clear, but it is
affecting NHS facilities up and down the country.

"We are experiencing a major IT disruption and there are delays
at all of our hospitals. We have activated our major incident
plan to make sure we can maintain the safety and welfare of
patients,"
Barts hospital said in a statement. Liverpool is also
affected.

As of writing, the malware seems to still be actively spreading.
An NHS source had previous said that Barnsley and Sheffield's
systems were previous unaffected, but said Barnsley's
are now down. "Computers are all down" in Stoke, as is
Scunthorpe.

One source told Business Insider that they were turned away from
Royal Free hospital in London. They were told there would be a
four-to-five hour wait, as doctors resorted to writing things
down on paper.

Some of our local NHS IT systems are currently down. We are working to rectify the problem asap. Apols for any inconvenience.

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it is aware of
reports of the ransomware affecting multiple global entities. In
a statement issued Friday evening, the department said: "We are
actively sharing information related to this event and stand
ready to lend technical support and assist our partners, both in
the United States and internationally. DHS has a cadre of
cybersecurity professionals that can provide expertise and
support to critical infrastructure."

Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said,
via Sky News: "This cyberattack is terrible news and a real
worry for patients. Our hard-working NHS staff are already
operating under unprecedented pressure and should be given every
support to help the public in the face of these malicious and
disturbing actions.

"This incident highlights the risk to data security within the
modern health service and reinforces the need for cyber security
to be at the heart of government planning. The digital revolution
has transformed the way we live and work but we have to be ready
for the vulnerabilities it brings too."